


Interactions

by scifinut



Category: Firefly
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-06
Updated: 2011-09-06
Packaged: 2017-10-23 11:37:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/249876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scifinut/pseuds/scifinut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A restless night for the Tam siblings. Written for HC_Bingo on LJ. Prompt was "medication".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Interactions

She was sitting on the couch at home, her father sat in his chair before her, face stern. "River," he began, "why can't you learn? Your mother and I have tried to raise you to be a fine young woman, but you have yet to understand one thing. You must never tell the truth."

"But father, you told me I should never tell a lie. That trustworthiness and honesty are the highest values of a person," River contested. Her father would never have told her to lie.

"The highest values of a fool, destined to be walked upon his whole life long. Do you want to end up like your brother, River? Do you want to end up like Simon?" His voice was rising in anger.

"Where is he? What have you done with him? Where is Simon?" River screamed at him. She knew something was wrong. Simon should have been there to protect her, but he was gone. It scared her, how could she have forgotten Simon?

A hand reached out and slapped River across the face. "Do not raise your voice to me, young lady!" he roared. "You will NOT speak the truth, do you understand? If you do, we will keep him from you. You will never see him again."

River's hand went to her face where her father had slapped her. It felt sticky, and when she pulled it away there was blue dripping from her fingers. "Two by two, hands of blue, two by two, hands of blue. You're one of THEM!" River jumped up and ran through the house, throwing open the back door.

It opened onto a lawn party where Simon sat with Kaylee and Zoe. The rest of the crew of Serenity was milling around. River ran to her brother "Simon, you have to come with me. They're after us, Simon. Come on, hurry!"

Simon looked at her, confusion on his face. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Simon, it's me, River! We have to leave, they're coming for us. Please, hurry!" She could see through the trees the Hands of Blue coming toward them.

"No, I'm sorry, I don't think I've ever met you before. If you'd care to sit down and converse feel free, but otherwise please leave us. I'm sure there are several men here who would leave with you." Zoe and Kaylee chittered with laughter as Simon smiled benevolently at them.

River stared, shocked. "I'm your sister. You rescued me, Simon, and now they're after us."

She moved to walk to Simon's side, but Zoe stood up and blocked the way. "Simon says leave. He doesn't like you," she said.

The hands of blue were halfway to the table now, walking across the yard. "They're almost here, please, we have to go!" River was becoming more hysterical every moment.

"Simon says never tell the truth. Simon says leave." Kaylee had moved to stand beside Zoe, blocking River away from her brother.

River turned and ran through the crowd of people, weaving in and out of groups. If Simon couldn't help her now, she was on her own. "Wake up," came a calm voice from outside her.

\---------------------

"Wake up River, come on," Simon said, shaking his sister gently. He was worried, River had never reacted this way before to her medicine. She looked as though she was running from something, and her heart rate was getting too high, and nothing seemed to be able to wake her.

"Fang xin, mei mei," he murmured to her as he ran his fingers through her hair. He was afraid to give her any new drugs, there was no way of knowing what sort of interactions they would cause. He still wasn't sure what had caused this reaction in the first place. With a sigh he sat beside her bed and pulled up a list of everything he'd given her recently. If nothing else, he could be here for her when she woke up and never give her this drug cocktail again. It had potential to keep her more lucid, but if it was at the cost of her mind while she slept, it wasn't worth it. He settled in for a night of taking care of no sleep and intense study of drug reactions, ready and willing to do whatever was necessary to find the right medication to help his sister.

**Author's Note:**

> Translation of what Simon says: "Don't worry, little sister."


End file.
